


Cruel and Unusual

by evil_giraffe



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Magical Realism, Season/Series 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24141907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evil_giraffe/pseuds/evil_giraffe
Summary: Junior learns the truth behind why Steve and Danny aren't together. It's stranger and more devastating than he ever imagined.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 129
Kudos: 260





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story begins immediately after 10x18 and extends beyond 10x22. Could be considered a fix-it but it's a bit of an odd one.

After a very enjoyable evening with Tani, Junior arrives home quite late and enters the house as quietly as possible. It becomes immediately apparent that his stealth was unnecessary, as the couch is currently unoccupied. He checks out back and sees Steve and Danny still sitting in the chairs on the beach, although a moment later Steve stands and offers his hand to help Danny up. When the smaller man takes it, Steve hauls Danny to his feet but then doesn’t stop, pulling his partner flush against him and immediately swooping down to kiss him.

Junior is a little surprised, considering that Steve had a date with Emma just yesterday, but as he observes that Danny is returning the kiss, he’s mostly thrilled by this development, which has definitely been a very long time coming. He beats a hasty retreat to his room and puts on his noise-canceling headphones; while he’s very happy for his friends, he has no desire to hear how far this change in their relationship might progress.

However, when he heads downstairs early the next morning, Danny is still sleeping on the couch. Having had plenty of practice, Junior creeps past him with ease and makes his way out back to lie in wait for Steve, who should be on his way out to swim some time soon. Sure enough, Steve shows up less than ten minutes later.

“Hey,” Junior greets him cheerfully. “Did you have a good time last night?”

Steve’s face gives nothing away as he responds, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Junior can’t hold back a grin. “My night was fantastic, thank you. How about yours?”

“Fine. Same old same old. Just hanging out with Danny.”

“Uh huh,” Junior says, stalling for time while he tries to decide whether he wants to force the issue in the face of Steve’s obvious reluctance to admit what happened. Junior would understand if Steve and Danny don’t want to tell everyone so soon, but he also doesn’t want them to feel like they have to sneak around in their own home, so he continues, “You don’t need to hide. I saw you guys kissing last night.”

Steve very convincingly stares at Junior like he just sprouted an extra head. “What? You must have just had a very realistic dream, buddy, because that didn’t happen.”

Junior is beginning to find Steve’s denial and apparent inability to trust him with this a bit upsetting. “I know what I saw,” he says defiantly. “And it’s fine, sir, in fact, I think it’s _great_. It really sucks that you had to live under the shadow of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell for a huge chunk of your life, but it’s long gone now and…”

“Junior,” Steve interjects sharply. “Seriously, there’s nothing to tell.”

Strangely, Steve sounds totally sincere and his tone is both annoyed and a little pained, almost wistful? Junior is now feeling extremely confused so he shuts up and watches quietly as Steve stalks off into the ocean. This calls for drastic measures, so Junior heads for the kitchen and makes two cups of coffee before moving to the living room and placing one of them on the table close to a still sleeping Danny. Junior sits down in the chair directly opposite before taking his life in his hands by attempting to wake the other man.

It takes several increasingly loud calls of his name before Danny groans and mutters “Junior? Someone better be dying.” A moment later, Danny abruptly sits up and asks worriedly, “It’s not Steve is it?”

“No,” Junior is quick to reassure him. “Steve’s fine, he’s gone for a swim. But I just had an incredibly weird and concerning conversation with him.”

Danny heaves a sigh and reaches for his coffee, drinking deeply before gesturing for Junior to proceed.

“I saw you and Steve kissing last night,” Junior starts, feeling vindicated when Danny immediately freezes. “But Steve just claimed, very insistently, that it didn’t happen.”

“Shit,” Danny mutters, gulping down the rest of his coffee and placing the now empty cup back on the table. Then he covers his face with both hands while taking several deep breaths. Eventually he lowers his hands and meets Junior’s eyes, looking like a man headed to his own execution. “This is going to sound insane,” he says wearily.

“Try me,” Junior responds with a calmness he doesn’t actually feel.

“Okay, here’s the cliff notes: magic is real, I got cursed, and consequently any time Steve kisses me he forgets about it as soon as it’s over.”

Junior’s first thought is a heartfelt _what the fuck_ , but actually that does explain everything if you overlook the fact that it’s completely nuts. After a brief silence, he gathers his wits enough to tell Danny, “I think I’m going to need to hear the long version.”

Danny sighs again and closes his eyes for a moment. “Fine, but not here. Steve might come back before we’re done. Let’s go for a drive.”

Junior nods his agreement and they go their separate ways to get dressed before meeting at the Camaro. They’re silent in the car as Danny drives them to his favorite scenic overlook. There’s no one else around so they can talk privately as they sit on the wall looking out at the ocean.

“So,” Junior begins, “magic is real?”

“Yes. But unfortunately I did not know that when I was young and stupid and disrespected a woman who claimed to be a very powerful witch. At the time, and even for many years afterwards, I didn’t take the curse seriously, because it sounded ridiculous; ‘If you ever meet your soulmate, you won’t be able to experience intimacy with them.’ I mean, who would believe that?”

“No one,” Junior says sympathetically, still struggling to believe it himself, despite what he saw earlier.

“Honestly, I’d mostly forgotten about the whole thing… nothing bad ever happened with any of the people I loved, and the whole idea of soulmates seemed absurd, so it was just a fun story about that time a crazy lady tried to put a curse on me… right up until the moment Steve kissed me for the first time, then shortly afterwards completely froze for about ten seconds, like a robot with a glitch, before proceeding to act like it never happened.”

Junior feels a sharp twinge in his own heart as he watches Danny blinking away tears at the memory. But he can’t help but ask, “When was that?”

“November 2016, not long after that lovely incident where terrorists took everyone hostage at my daughter’s winter formal.”

“Oh.” Junior experiences a rising sense of horror as he realizes how long Danny has been carrying this burden. “How many times since then?”

Danny lets out a humorless laugh. “I don’t know exactly. I lost count somewhere in the teens and that was a while ago. I could probably figure it out if I tried but I find it’s better not to dwell on it. It wasn’t that often at first; we both had girlfriends so it was generally only after some kind of highly stressful brush with death. But it started happening a lot more frequently last year when we were both single. Even when I started getting close to Rachel again, it wasn’t quite the deterrent I hoped it would be. And yes, I’m well aware of exactly how shitty it was for me to use her like that, and to push Steve at all of those women, but it’s an impossible situation and I’m starting to lose my mind. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at predicting when Steve’s going to make a move and deflecting the problem, but every now and again he still manages to surprise me.”

“Why haven’t you just told him?”

Danny shifts uncomfortably, looking thoroughly miserable. “At first, I was hoping to find a way out of this mess. I set up a camera and kissed Steve myself, took the evidence of what was happening to Jerry. I figured if anyone could help with this craziness it would be him. But every lead we dug up turned out to be a dead end and eventually we had to admit defeat. I did tell Steve then, but the look on his face when he truly understood the implications was so awful… I kissed it away.”

“Wait, hold up, it’s not just the kiss itself that gets erased from Steve’s memory?”

“No. Any conversation that directly led up to the moment goes as well. So if Steve tells me he loves me, but doesn’t go for a kiss, I can do it myself and make it go away rather than reject him.”

Junior is trying very hard not to be judgmental here, but… “Danny, that’s really messed up.”

“You think I don’t know that? It kills me to do it. But I tried to let him down easy once, told him I didn’t feel the same way, but the stubborn bastard refused to believe me. This way, at least I’m the only one suffering, which is fair because I caused all this in the first place.”

Junior thinks back to the hint of sadness he detected when Steve told him this morning that nothing had happened between him and Danny. “Respectfully, that’s total crap. Steve _is_ suffering, because he loves you, he knows you love him too, and he’s probably seriously confused about why you keep dodging him and pushing him towards other people.”

Danny squeezes his eyes shut but several tears escape anyway and he swipes at them angrily. “What the hell else I am supposed to do?”

“I think you should seriously consider telling him,” Junior says solemnly.

“I’m really not sure that’s such a great idea, especially on top of Steve’s other mental health issues. I’m worried he’ll obsess over it, turn it into a mission, maybe waste the rest of his life trying to get rid of the damn curse.” Danny sighs heavily. “But I’ll think about it some more.”

Junior reaches out to clasp Danny’s shoulder supportively. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I can’t imagine how terrible it’s been for you these past few years. But you shouldn’t blame yourself. I don’t care what you said to that witch, no one deserves to suffer like this.”

“Thanks buddy,” Danny replies shakily, still wiping at his eyes. “We should get out of here. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Junior nods and they head back to the car. As they travel in companionable silence, Junior contemplates giving Jerry a call later. He finds the thought of the agony Danny and Steve are currently enduring completely unacceptable, and while Danny might have expressed his concerns about the possibility of Steve turning this into a mission if he finds out the truth, he didn’t say Junior couldn’t do exactly the same on Steve’s behalf…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to everyone who has already commented / given kudos. It really helps me to keep going :)

Fortunately it’s a slow day for Five-0, with everyone in their respective offices catching up on paperwork, so it doesn’t matter too much that Junior is having a very difficult time concentrating after his unexpectedly eventful morning. The more he thinks about the situation, the more agitated he becomes; it’s just so _wrong_ and horribly unfair. Steve and Danny are _soulmates_ , which frankly is a mind blowing concept all on its own, and they clearly belong together. Who the hell does this witch think she is to stand in the way of that?

After a couple of hours, Tani walks in to Junior’s office, closing the door behind herself before perching on the edge of his desk very close to him. “Okay, spill,” she says. “What is up with you?”

“I’m just a little distracted today,” he replies, hoping to avoid having to lie to her.

Tani narrows her eyes at him. “I’d say you’re a lot distracted. You’re all fidgety. You must have something serious on your mind.”

Damn. Tani sounds worried, probably thinking it’s something to do with their own still very new relationship. Junior decides to go with a highly sanitized version of the truth; “It’s Steve and Danny… now that they’re under the same roof all the unfulfilled longing is driving me crazy.”

“Ah,” Tani says, obviously relieved and slightly amused. “Maybe it’s time to give them a nudge in the right direction?”

“No,” Junior says urgently. “I tried that already and it was a disaster. Please, just leave it alone?”

Tani huffs in frustration. “Fine. I think it’s sad and pointless but I’ll continue to stay out of it. I should get back to work.”

Junior gives Tani a grateful smile which she returns with a soft smile of her own. Then she reaches out and briefly squeezes his hand before returning to her own office.

When lunch rolls around, Junior tells the team he has some errands to run so he can be alone for a while. Unfortunately, having arrived with Danny this morning, he has to ask to borrow Steve’s truck. This is a little awkward because Steve still seems somewhat annoyed with him, which probably wasn’t helped by Junior and Danny ‘going out for breakfast’ without Steve. Nevertheless he does hand over his keys and Junior makes his escape from the office.

After grabbing a sandwich and consuming it faster than is probably healthy, Junior finds a nice deserted place to park and calls Jerry. It turns out to be a very reassuring conversation; Jerry has not given up on trying to break the curse, he just carried on without Danny’s knowledge. He has in fact dedicated the majority of his time since leaving Five-0 to the undertaking, which Danny definitely would never have allowed him to do.

Jerry explains that unfortunately all the local experts they’d found had agreed that the curse was too powerful and complex to be broken by anyone other than the witch who cast it or perhaps a close blood relative. They’d also learned that all that fairy tale crap about true love’s kiss breaking curses was generally accurate, but in this case the witch had carefully constructed the curse to weaponize that very thing instead. Junior is starting to hate this woman with an intensity that scares him a little.

Sadly, locating the witch had proven to be impossible, as the name Danny had for her turned out to be fake. Eventually, Jerry had managed to find an old newspaper article that mentioned her, but this still meant that all they had to go on was a photograph that was three decades old and a false identity with no known associates. Danny had nonetheless done some digging around on one of his trips to New Jersey but without success. Jerry’s numerous online appeals for information also failed to turn up anything useful.

Jerry had quietly continued to reach out to every contact and online group he could think of, even after Danny had given up hope, but it wasn’t until his own brush with death that he became completely determined to resolve the matter. No one had questioned Jerry’s claim that he was leaving Five-0 to write a book, but what he has actually been doing is searching for the witch the old fashioned way; systematically visiting occult stores looking for anyone who recognizes her. Naturally he had begun in New Jersey before moving on to New York City. Apparently it was very slow going, as the magical community is small and secretive and it isn’t easy to distinguish those with genuine power from those simply attracted to the occult.

Worryingly, most of Jerry’s investigations had one of two results; either the people he spoke with had no idea what he was talking about or they reacted with fear to the witch’s photograph and still claimed to know nothing. Eventually he did manage to find someone who was willing to admit to knowing her, but sadly they also knew her by the fake name and had no information about her family, other than a vague recollection that she might have originated from somewhere in the Midwest. In the absence of any other leads, Jerry had immediately flown to Ohio and has been slowly making his way west ever since. He has recently made it as far as Kansas with no further success, but remains surprisingly optimistic and resolute. Junior commends him for the amazing lengths he is going to for Steve and Danny but Jerry brushes off the praise, saying it’s like a real world quest and how many people get the chance to try to break an actual curse? Junior makes Jerry promise to call if he gets a lead and needs backup. Not that it’s likely that Junior’s skills will be much use against magic, but it’s the principle of the thing.

After they end the call, Junior watches the video evidence of the curse in action that Jerry had forwarded to him. It’s one of the most disturbing things he’s ever seen, not just because of the incredibly creepy totally vacant expression on Steve’s face as his brain gets overwritten, but also the look of utter devastation that Danny is unable to contain as Steve walks away from him afterwards. Junior is suddenly a lot more understanding of Jerry’s extreme actions. The images are certainly going to be haunting him for however long it takes to fix this.

When he gets back to HQ, Junior immediately retreats to his office and throws himself into his paperwork with an unusual degree of enthusiasm. He just wants to forget everything for a while and pretend the world is still rational and normal. A nice, repetitive, mundane task is just the thing.

Before he knows it, it’s the end of the day and Steve shows up to tell him it’s time to go unless he wants to make his own way home. He seems to be in an even worse mood than he was earlier and Junior wonders where Danny is. Junior had held on to the keys to Steve’s truck after lunch, assuming that Steve and Danny would be leaving together in the Camaro, but Danny must have left by himself while Junior wasn’t paying attention. He packs up quickly and returns Steve’s keys as they walk out.

The drive home is uncharacteristically tense and silent. As they get close to the house, Danny drives by in the opposite direction, acknowledging them with a quick wave. Junior sees Steve’s jaw clench and his hands tighten on the steering wheel. He’s starting to wish he had stayed in the office after all.

It turns out he was right to be uneasy, because as soon as Junior enters the house and shuts the door, Steve turns on him, ignoring poor Eddie as he practically growls, “What the hell is going on?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Junior says as calmly as possible, while watching Eddie slink off dejectedly. Smart boy.

“ _Bullshit_. You and Danny have both been acting weird all day. Danny could barely look at me and then suddenly he ‘remembers’ he’s staying at _Rachel’s_ tonight. As for you… I don’t even know how to describe the way you’ve been looking at me, I just know it’s not normal and I don’t like it.”

Damn, Junior really needs to work on his poker face. He used to be so much better at concealing things. He definitely doesn’t enjoy having Steve’s anger directed at him, but this isn’t his secret to share and he’s extremely conflicted.

Steve must pick up on some of what he’s feeling, as he backs off and collapses into the nearby chair. When he speaks again, it’s much quieter. “Junior, please. After everything else, I can’t take any more secrets and lies.”

Oh god, how the hell is Junior supposed to withstand that? Danny is going to kill him, and despite everything, Steve will probably help get rid of his body. Still, he drops down onto the couch, an exact mirror of his position with Danny this morning, as he also starts the conversation off with the same warning; “This is going to sound insane.”

Steve just stares at him expectantly.

Junior decides to once again follow Danny’s lead… “Magic is real, Danny is cursed, and as a result every time one of you kisses the other, you forget about it immediately afterwards.”

“That’s not funny,” Steve says, voice deceptively calm while everything about his expression and posture radiates absolute fury.

“It really isn’t,” Junior agrees, bringing up the video evidence on his phone and wordlessly handing it over. It’s nothing short of horrific, watching the anger leach out of Steve face only to be replaced in quick succession by disbelief, confusion, desolation, and finally back around to anger.

“I don’t understand how Danny could keep this from me.” Steve is still staring down at the video, paused at the moment Danny reaches out to retrieve the camera.

Junior unexpectedly finds himself wanting to defend Danny’s actions. He’s beginning to realize that if he had the ability to erase Steve’s current distress he might be sorely tempted. So he painstakingly repeats everything Danny shared with him this morning, before moving on to his conversation with Jerry this afternoon.

Steve listens intently throughout, occasionally fighting back tears. By the time Junior is done, Steve’s face has settled into a look of grim determination. “Under no circumstances are you to tell Danny that I know about this,” he commands. “Also, tell Jerry he reports to me now.”

“Yes sir,” Junior replies instantly. Clearly the mission is out of his hands now, which is exactly what Danny was afraid of, but Junior has to believe it’s all going to work out for the best.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve’s initial reaction after learning about the curse is an overwhelming sense of anger. He’s furious with the witch, with the universe, with Danny. The revelation that his partner, his _soulmate_ , has been concealing this from him for years and, even worse, deliberately manipulating Steve’s memory, is the most painful thing of all. However, after he’s had more time to think about it, Steve suspects that he probably would have done exactly the same if their positions were reversed. After all, the main reason that Steve doesn’t want Danny to know that he’s now aware of the truth is to avoid having to see him constantly in distress whenever they’re together, which feels like the inevitable outcome. Maybe it’s not any healthier for them both to be hiding their suffering but it is easier to deal with.

The only positive thing about this whole mess is that Steve now knows for sure that Danny loves him too and if he can just find a way to break this wretched curse they can finally move their relationship to the next level. It’s slightly comforting to have an explanation for the many times Danny has abruptly changed the subject or simply left when Steve was gearing up to confess his feelings. Someday, after this is all over (failure is not an option), Steve is going to make Danny tell him about each and every kiss. Steve deserves to know his own history, to be aware of exactly how many times he has worked up enough courage to make a move on his best friend, only to have the memory cruelly snatched away.

When Danny returns from his overnight stay at Rachel’s, he no longer avoids looking at Steve and behaves as he always does, so he must have recovered from what Steve can only assume was a severe attack of guilt brought on by discussing the curse with Junior. Steve instructs Junior to tell Danny that he’s reconsidered and doesn’t think it’s a good idea to tell Steve the truth. It’s not even a lie given that it would ruin Steve’s plan to keep Danny in the dark. As Steve is an expert in suppressing his pain and carrying on as if nothing is wrong, he’s confident his own behavior hasn’t changed enough to give him away.

In fact, the only significant change is that Steve is now having trouble sleeping, but when Danny eventually confronts him about it, it’s easy enough to brush it off. It’s not as if there aren’t conceivably plenty of other things that could be bothering him, not the least of which is the fact that he hasn’t ever taken a proper break from work and is verging on total mental, emotional and physical exhaustion. He’s not sure yet what he wants to do about that. Before he knew about the curse he had been considering inviting Danny to accompany him on an extended vacation, one that would have turned out to be ‘accidentally’ romantic, but clearly that’s not an option now unless his intention is to torture both of them.

A week later, when Danny is on spring break and Steve is being haunted by his grief, he’s beginning to wonder whether it’s possible he got cursed himself without being aware of it. It certainly seems like everyone he loves eventually dies horribly while Steve stands by helplessly. Maybe Catherine got away just in time, and maybe being forced to keep his distance is the only thing that’s kept Danny alive so far. But, no. Steve realizes this is just his overly fatigued mind playing tricks on him. The important thing to focus on is Joe’s warning about not waiting too long to find someone or, more accurately, not waiting any longer to go after what he wants. He can’t lose sight of the mission.

The arrival of the cipher from Doris is an extremely unwelcome addition to Steve’s already complicated life but there isn’t much time to dwell on it before they’re pulled into yet another highly stressful case. Steve is very much aware that he’s becoming dangerously overwhelmed and it’s definitely time for him to take a break from work.

As it happens, this coincides nicely with receiving a text from Jerry advising that he has found the witch’s niece in South Dakota, and that she’s willing to help. Steve reprimands Jerry for taking the risk of meeting with this woman alone, but Jerry is unrepentant as he explains that he had trusted the old man who had pointed him in the right direction, as he was adamant that she was kind and harmless. This allegedly good witch has informed Jerry that as the curse is tied to the soulmate bond between Steve and Danny, the work to undo the curse could theoretically be carried out on either of them, so Steve informs Danny that he needs to take his break somewhere other than Hawaii, and hopes that the crap he comes up with to explain himself sounds convincing. He doesn’t see the point in both of them getting their hopes up if this turns out to be a bust.

Naturally, because nothing is ever simple, that’s when the cipher rears its ugly head again and now Steve can’t leave until the matter is dealt with. What follows is one of the worst days of Steve’s life, and that’s really saying something. As he sits by Danny’s side in the hospital, anxiously waiting for him to wake up, Steve knows that if he had lost his partner because of Doris and her endless nonsense, especially now that they’re potentially so close to being able to be together the way they were always meant to be, he wouldn’t have survived it. He’s feeling unsettled enough to be a little reckless, so he risks activating the curse with a gentle kiss to Danny’s temple. After a full minute he still remembers it, so apparently it wasn’t intimate enough to count. The experience is strangely reassuring in a way he doesn’t quite understand.

One week later, Steve finds himself saying goodbye to Danny on his beach. It’s extremely hard to leave him while he’s still injured, but Steve just can’t wait any longer. With any luck he’ll be back much sooner than anyone expects and he and Danny can talk about that vacation he wanted and possibly about retirement. Risking both of their lives on a daily basis is definitely getting old.

On the other hand, if his trip to South Dakota doesn’t end in the desired outcome, Steve may indeed end up wandering the earth searching for the solution that he has to believe is out there somewhere. He can’t imagine coming back until he’s able to safely kiss his soulmate the moment he sees him again. The thought of that is the only thing that makes it possible to walk away from Danny in the first place.

When Junior had learned of Steve’s plan he had of course offered to come along as backup, but Steve had told him he needed him to stay and take care of Danny for him instead. The peace of mind that provides is more valuable than having company on this trip. Nonetheless, Steve is pleasantly surprised when Catherine joins him on the flight. It’s good to see a friendly face, although whether she’ll want to stick around once she learns the nature of the mission remains to be seen. She might find the whole soulmate thing hard to accept. For now though, Steve will gladly accept her support. He smiles when she asks if he’s ready because yes, he definitely is ready; ready to do whatever it takes in order to secure his future with the man he loves.


	4. Chapter 4

In the last few moments before his phone needs to be switched off, Steve sends a message to Jerry asking him to try to book a seat for Catherine on Steve’s connecting flight from Denver to Sioux Falls. Steve had booked it separately as he figured it would look like an oddly specific location to go ‘searching for peace’, so only Jerry and Junior also know it’s the final destination. He can’t explain the situation to Catherine while they’re on a crowded plane, and as they’re flying through the night there’s nothing else to do but settle in and try to get some sleep. Maybe it’s just due to exhaustion, or perhaps the relief of having a goal to work towards, but he’s surprisingly successful and so the first leg of the journey is over before he knows it.

While they’re rushing through Denver International Airport to make the tight connection, Catherine does ask what’s in Sioux Falls, but Steve just says he can’t tell her in public. They’re not seated together on this flight so there’s no opportunity for her to try to interrogate him even if she was so inclined.

Jerry meets them at Sioux Falls Regional Airport but surrenders the keys to his rental to Steve. The bookstore owned by the witch’s niece is in downtown Sioux Falls only a short drive away, but there’s just enough time for Jerry to explain everything to Catherine and of course to show her that godawful video. Steve pretends to be completely focused on his driving and lets Jerry deal with Cath’s incredulity.

When Steve parks outside the store and finally turns to look at her, it’s clear that Catherine is not at all happy but valiantly trying to hide it. “Are you okay?” he asks cautiously.

Catherine glances away from him and ignores the question. “Let’s do this,” she says tightly, before getting out of the car.

Jerry leads the way into the store, which has a closed sign on the door but is not locked. There are two women sitting at a large table waiting for them. The older of the two is perhaps in her late sixties and the other looks to be mid-forties. Jerry introduces the older lady as Olwen, the witch’s niece, and the other as Olwen’s daughter Rhian.

Olwen turns her chair sideways and indicates the empty chair that is now in front of her before addressing Steve, “Please, sit.”

Jerry has been here for a week and trusts these people, so Steve complies, also turning the chair to face Olwen directly. Catherine and Jerry take seats across the table.

“May I?” Olwen asks, holding her hand out towards him.

Steve nods and Olwen places her hand directly over his heart. She immediately gasps and jerks her hand away like she’s been burned.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, with tears in her eyes. “I saw the video and heard the explanation from Jerry, but I didn’t want to believe it. What my aunt has done to you… it’s unconscionable.”

“Can you fix it?” Steve asks, already dreading the answer after seeing her reaction.

“No, unfortunately not. Even Rhian and I together wouldn’t be powerful enough to deal with this. You must understand, my Aunt Enid was an extraordinary witch. At any given time there are only a handful on the entire planet with that level of power. Currently there are only three that I’m aware of. One is in Peru, but he’s just a child. Another is in Siberia, but that’s obviously not the best place for an American to go wandering around, particularly one with your service record.”

Steve glances sharply at Jerry at that, but he just shrugs, totally unconcerned.

Olwen continues, “The last one might be your best bet. She lives in the Daintree Rainforest in Australia and goes by the name Anna. You’ll need to take this.”

Olwen produces a small vial hanging from a silver chain before casually pricking her finger and filling the vial with her blood. Then she wraps her hand around it and murmurs something in a language Steve is unfamiliar with. There’s a brief glow around Olwen’s hand.

“What was that?” Steve asks, suspecting he’s comically wide-eyed. He’s vaguely aware of Catherine also reacting with shock in his peripheral vision.

“Just a simple protection spell, to ensure the vial won’t break no matter what happens to it. It wouldn’t do for you to have to come back here for more if you drop it. It will also act as a beacon of sorts; if you get within a mile of another witch they’ll be able to detect it and will know you need assistance. As far as I know, Anna moves around a lot and might be hard to find, but there are a few other witches among the Aboriginal Australians in the forest who might be able to help locate her if you encounter them first.”

Olwen places the vial in a small pouch marked with unidentifiable symbols before handing it to Steve. “I suggest you keep it in here until you get to the forest. It will mute the beacon and also make it appear innocuous to non-magical people, which I believe will be useful when going through airport security.”

This is a lot to take in but the important thing is that hope is not lost. After a brief silence, Steve manages to thank Olwen.

She gives him a sad smile. “I just wish I could do more and I’m so sorry it’s necessary in the first place. Aunt Enid wasn’t always a bad person. Nothing can excuse her actions, but she became bitter and twisted after losing her own soulmate. Pain and grief can make people do crazy things and she went east looking for an infamous book of dark magic that she believed would allow her to bring him back. But some forces are not to be meddled with and she was killed during one of her attempts, just a few months after she cast the curse on your soulmate.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Steve says automatically.

“No, you’re not.” Olwen’s tone is frank but not unkind. “But I can hardly blame you for that. I wish you well on your onward journey and hope you will be reunited with your soulmate very soon.”

With that, Olwen excuses herself and wanders off into the back of the store. Rhian follows shortly after, although the way she and Jerry smile at each other as she leaves is very interesting.

“So, I guess I’m going to Australia,” Steve says, turning to face Jerry’s happy smile and Catherine’s unreadable expression.

“I’m checking flights for you now,” Jerry announces, tapping away on his phone.

Catherine frowns. “Steve, I love you, and I want you to be happy, but this is crazy. You’re talking about flying around the world to randomly wander around more than 400 square miles of rainforest looking for one person who may or may not exist, all on the say so of a woman you just met.”

Jerry pauses what he’s doing to glare at Catherine which is a bit shocking given his usual temperament. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Olwen and Rhian and they’re good people. And were you not paying attention? That beacon is going to help Steve find Anna and then she can finally break the curse.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” Now Catherine is raising her voice at Jerry; this is getting out of hand. “All of this is completely insane.”

“Cath, let’s step outside,” Steve says firmly, immediately walking out without bothering to check whether she’s following. Once outside, he leans on the hood of the car and waits for Catherine to join him, which she does before too long. They stay silent for a couple of minutes before Steve speaks again. “I know this is difficult, but you can’t deny the reality of the things you’ve seen today, so I don’t think it’s really the magic stuff, or even my travel plans, that you actually have a problem with. Is this maybe about you and me?”

Catherine pointedly looks away for a long moment before taking a slow, depth breath and sagging against the car. Then she looks at Steve with watery eyes. “It hurts,” she admits. “Knowing that all that time we were together in Hawaii, you and Danny were…”

“It wasn’t like that. Cath, we _didn’t know_. I did love you, and I swear to you nothing happened with Danny while we were together.”

“But you loved him too, even then.”

Steve considers this. “Yes. But even I didn’t know it at the time. You know I’m not the best at recognizing my own feelings.”

“Understatement,” Cath says, smiling a little now despite herself. But her expression quickly turns serious again. “It’s a good thing you never proposed. That wouldn’t have ended well for any of us.”

There’s really nothing Steve can say to that, other than, “I’m sorry.”

Cath sighs. “I guess that’s what I get for falling in love with an idiot.”

“Yeah,” Steve agrees and Catherine laughs before reaching over to take his hand.

“Danny’s an idiot too,” she says. “Maybe that’s why he’s your soulmate. I want you both to be happy, but I can’t come with you this time.”

“I understand.” Steve squeezes Cath’s hand. “I hope you’re happy too someday.”

Before Catherine can respond, Jerry emerges from the store and eyes her in a decidedly unfriendly manner.

“Jerry, I’m sorry,” she tells him. “I shouldn’t have taken my issues out on you.”

“Okay,” Jerry replies, relaxing immediately. “So, one ticket or two?”

“One,” Steve confirms. Jerry nods and turns his attention back to his phone. A couple of minutes later, Steve’s phone chimes with an incoming email.

“Your first flight is from Sioux Falls to Chicago in five hours,” Jerry informs him. “Then it’s Chicago to Brisbane and finally Brisbane to Cairns.”

Well, that sounds exhausting but it’s a necessary evil. “Thanks Jerry. Thanks for all of this. I owe you big time.”

“Nah. This was fun. And I’m going to stick around here for a while. There’s a lot of very interesting books…”

“Interesting books,” Steve repeats with a smirk and he can see Catherine sporting an amused smile as well. “Sure.”

Jerry ducks his head and blushes a little but then smiles brightly. Steve is quite pleased that his friend has potentially got something for himself out of his months of hard work.

Steve is happy to agree when Jerry suggests that they grab lunch at a nearby restaurant before Steve and Catherine head back to the airport. Considering what’s to come, it might be the last decent meal he gets for quite some time.


	5. Chapter 5

Steve has spent far too many hours over the past two days on planes and in airports and unfortunately he’s not done yet, as he collapses into a seat in the gate area for his final flight from Brisbane to Cairns. He’s been too preoccupied to bother switching his phone back on but with forty minutes to go before boarding is due to start, he does so now. As soon as it connects, he receives two messages.

The first is from Danny, _‘I know what you’re doing. Call me.’_

The second is from Junior, _‘I’m sorry. But he was just so sad and I couldn’t stand it.’_

Steve laughs quietly. Junior has proven to be remarkably terrible at keeping things to himself but he’s probably better than any of them at correctly judging what’s in everyone’s best interests. Steve does a quick calculation; it’s early morning in Brisbane so it’s mid morning the day before on Oahu. Danny isn’t back at work yet so it should be safe to call him, although Steve might have to be careful when it comes to his end of the conversation being overheard. Being dragged off to a psychiatric institution would seriously derail his plans.

Danny picks up almost immediately but seems unsure what to say, as all that comes out is a slightly strangled, “Hey.”

“Hi,” Steve replies unhelpfully. There’s an awkward silence as they just listen to each other’s uneven breathing.

Eventually Danny speaks. “I’m so sorry. For everything. I don’t know how you could ever forgive me.” He sounds on the verge of tears and oh god, no, if he cries Steve might too and crying in front of a bunch of random strangers is something he would really prefer to avoid.

“Danny, no.” Steve’s voice is also decidedly shaky. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t hurt, but I understand why you did what you did. Of course I forgive you.”

“Steve… I love you. So much. But I don’t think I deserve you.”

“Shut up. I love you too.”

Danny chuckles. “So romantic,” he teases, and that’s good, maybe they’re going to be okay. Danny continues with a much more serious tone, “Just so you know, while I’m extremely grateful that this might be almost over, it doesn’t sit well with me, you running off to clean up my mess.”

“Yeah, well, maybe if you hadn’t been shot because of my family’s mess, you’d be here too.” Steve is aware that he’s just attracted much more attention from several nearby passengers. “Although, seriously, trekking through a rainforest sounds much more like a me thing than a you thing.”

“That’s a fair point. And while we’re on the subject, please don’t get eaten by a crocodile or bitten by a deadly snake or some other ridiculous thing, okay? I have enough guilt already.”

“I’ll try my best,” Steve says solemnly. “You should just focus on healing your body, I’m going to work on my mind as well as our _other problem_ , then I’m thinking you and me and a nice relaxing vacation somewhere. What do you say?”

“That sounds fantastic, babe. Count me in.”

“I love you,” Steve repeats, just because he can. “More than I can say.”

“I love you too,” Danny replies quickly. “And I know you don’t remember, but just for the record, I have no complaints about your ability to express your feelings non-verbally.”

Steve lets out a startled laugh. It’s incredible that Danny can somehow talk to him about a subject that should be painful in a way that makes it seem fine. “Good to know,” he says somewhat smugly. “Just wait until we can take that a whole lot further.”

“Trust me, I’m going to be thinking about that _constantly_.”

Jesus, that tone in Danny’s voice should be illegal. Steve finds himself suddenly wondering whether phone sex would even count when it comes to triggering the curse. Oh god, he needs to end this call before things start getting inappropriate.

“I’ve got to go,” he says, hopefully not sounding as flustered as he feels. “And I might not be able to get in touch very often if at all once I’m in the forest.”

“Okay, babe. Thank you for calling, for being so understanding, and for what you’re doing right now. Actually, you know what, thank you for everything you are and everything you do. You’re amazing and I love you.”

It’s hard to talk after that, but eventually Steve manages to respond with an unsteady, “Right back at you Danno. Hopefully I’ll see you soon.”

Steve hangs up immediately after that. He’s sure Danny will understand that he was feeling too overwhelmed to continue. Earlier he had thought he couldn’t possibly be more motivated to find Anna quickly but this phone call has certainly proven him wrong. Now he can barely sit still as he waits impatiently for the final part of his journey to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

As luck would have it, Steve has been in the Daintree Rainforest for less than three hours when he’s approached by a small group of Aboriginal Australians, two of whom were able to sense Olwen’s beacon, which he’s now wearing around his neck. Steve submits himself to the familiar hand over the heart routine. The middle-aged witch shudders and immediately announces that her son, Jim, will help Steve to find Anna. The rest of the group wishes him well and continues on their way.

Jim is twenty, and his youthful exuberance makes Steve feel ancient. As Jim explains that Anna has dozens of camping spots throughout the forest, never stays at any of them for more than a few days, and moves between them with no set pattern, Steve realizes exactly how fortunate it was to find assistance so quickly. It’s entirely possible that had he been left to his own devices, Steve and Anna could have wandered at cross purposes for months, maybe even years.

They’re starting from the southern edge of the forest and Jim proposes a zigzag path through Anna’s campsites, leaving messages in each one as they go so that if Anna returns to any of them she can head north and intercept them on their next east or west pass rather than trying to catch up with them. It’s a solid plan, but if Anna is already at the extreme northern end of the forest it could still take a considerable amount of time.

Unsurprisingly, Anna is not at the first site they get to. Jim explains that if she were, there would be wards around the place that would deter non-magical people from entering, although Olwen’s beacon would allow Steve to pass through. They make camp for the night and in the morning Jim leaves their first message for Anna; he picks up a medium sized rock which begins to glow as he speaks into it, but returns to a perfectly normal appearance when he’s done. Magic is fascinating when it’s not being used to impose maliciously harsh punishments on unsuspecting people.

Each day is much the same but the routine is actually quite enjoyable. The rainforest is tranquil and beautiful and Jim is good company; he mostly leaves Steve to his thoughts unless there’s something he wants to point out or explain the cultural significance of. After hiking all day every day, Steve has no difficulties sleeping soundly at night. He very rarely has a phone signal, but any time he does he sends a quick message to Danny, informing him that he hasn’t been eaten or seriously wounded by any wildlife yet. Danny usually responds with some kind of insult to Steve’s intelligence but occasionally a more heartfelt I miss you and/or I love you.

It’s been fifty-two days when Jim pauses as he and Steve approach the latest in a long line of Anna’s campsites. “She’s here,” Jim announces. “I’ll stay outside the wards until you’re done.”

With that, Jim drops his own gear on the ground and takes Steve’s too before sitting down with his back against a tree, obviously getting comfortable for a lengthy wait.

“Thank you,” Steve says sincerely. Jim just smiles and waves him on his way.

As Steve enters the campsite, he feels a brief chill as he steps through the invisible barrier. He finds Anna sitting cross-legged in the center of the clearing with her eyes closed. She’s tiny and clearly extremely old but not at all frail. Perhaps her magic helps with that.

Anna opens her eyes as Steve approaches. “Hello Steven,” she greets him serenely. “Come here, child.”

Steve joins her on the ground and Anna reaches out to lay her hand over his heart. Unlike the other witches, she has no discernible reaction.

“Don’t worry,” she says. “I can indeed free you from this abomination. A soul-cleansing ritual ought to do it, but it will take some time and effort. I can see you’ve also suffered a vast amount of unrelated pain and grief, so perhaps I can ease some of your other burdens while I’m poking around in there.”

“Seriously?” Steve wasn’t expecting that at all.

Anna smiles. “Magic has a great many uses, and you certainly deserve to get some benefit from it after having it used against you so savagely.” Anna’s smile widens as she suddenly places her other hand over Steve’s transplant scar, even though it’s not visible. “I see you carry a piece of your soulmate with you. That’s quite a gift.”

“Yeah,” Steve agrees. Whenever he lets himself think about it, he’s still a bit in awe of everything Danny did for him that day.

Abruptly, Anna frowns. “I’m also sensing some very unusual damage… radiation?”

The surprises just keep coming. “Yes,” he confirms.

“It’s an exceedingly strange life you’ve been leading, Steven. I will take care of this as well. Otherwise, it will eventually end your life. Magic has robbed you of several years you should have had with your soulmate. Therefore I will give some additional time back to you.”

Steve just stares at Anna, completely dumbfounded. She removes her hands from their current positions and gives him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“I know it’s a lot to absorb. You can thank me later. Now let’s get started. Take off your shirt and lie down on your side.”

Steve obeys without question. Anna waves her hand and a perfect circle forms on the ground around them. Then she lies down facing him and reaches for the vial of Olwen’s blood, opening it and pouring the blood onto the palm of her hand before pressing that hand over Steve’s heart again. She presses the fingertips of her other hand to Steve’s temple.

“Close your eyes,” Anna instructs and as soon as he does, he’s completely surrounded by a bright white light.

The next thing he knows, he’s no longer in the rainforest, but standing on his beach, watching himself walk away from Danny. Anna is standing beside him.

“What is this?” he asks.

Anna smiles. “The mind, body and soul are all deeply connected. In order to cleanse your soul, we need to visit the memories associated with the time the damage occurred. As I intend to help with more than just the curse, we will start with your most recent trauma and work backwards.”

What follows is the most surreal experience of Steve’s life, as he and Anna observe all of his most painful memories. Along the way she offers comfort and support, encouraging him to confront his emotions and start to see the many tragic events in a new light. Slowly but surely his guilt and anguish begin to diminish.

When they reach the moment Steve was exposed to the uranium, Anna drags him towards himself, placing one hand on each version of him and muttering something in an unknown language. A peculiar warmth sweeps over him and although he can’t claim to understand the process at all, Steve knows Anna just healed the damage left behind by the radiation.

Their journey backwards through Steve’s traumatic experiences continues until eventually he has to face his father’s death and then Freddie’s. It’s incredibly difficult, but with Anna’s help he’s finally able to work through it. She has definitely delivered when it comes to easing his burdens.

Then suddenly there’s a huge jump backwards and Steve is watching his much younger self going about his business on what appears to be an unremarkable evening, just hanging out with his buddies at Annapolis. He’s about to ask why they’re here when he sees himself suddenly clutch at his chest with a brief look of concern. It’s a fleeting moment, so seemingly insignificant that Steve had forgotten it.

“This is it,” Anna tells him. “The moment Daniel was cursed.”

Once again, Anna positions herself between the current Steve and the version from his memory, making contact with both. She closes her eyes and a look of intense concentration comes over her face. A glow begins under her hands but slowly expands to surround them completely. Eventually, Steve feels a weird snapping sensation.

Suddenly Steve is back in his physical body, lying on the ground in the rainforest, gasping and violently trembling as his mind is flooded with all the memories the curse had taken from him; numerous love confessions and kisses, all of which feel like a first kiss. It’s intense and extremely confusing.

Vaguely, he’s aware of Anna speaking to him in a soothing tone and gently stroking his hair. Eventually he begins to calm down and abruptly he registers the absence of a subtle tightness in his chest that he hadn’t even realized was there before; it’s been with him more than half his life. Steve feels hysterical laughter bubble up inside him and he’s unable to hold it back. He laughs until he cries.

When he’s done, Anna releases him and gives him some space as he sits up and puts his shirt back on.

“How do you feel?” she asks.

“Fantastic. Better than I’ve felt in a very long time. I can’t possibly thank you enough.”

Anna smiles softly. “You can thank me by being happy and taking good care of yourself and your soulmate. Now get out of here, go to him. I know you want to.”

“Thank you,” Steve says one more time, packing as much feeling into it as he can.

Then he jumps up and does exactly as Anna suggested, moving quickly to return to Jim so he can leave the forest. Getting back to Danny is all that matters now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I firmly believe that Steve has been desperately in need of therapy for years, but apparently I'm okay with a magical shortcut.


	7. Chapter 7

Jim grins brightly as soon as he sees Steve again, so the vast improvement in his mental state must be reflected in his outward appearance. Luckily, the camp where they had eventually found Anna is just a few hours’ hike away from one of the more touristy areas of the forest, where Steve can hopefully find accommodation for the night and a bus back to Cairns Airport in the morning. They set off immediately.

As they walk, Steve uses the time to try to process his newly returned memories. It’s very strange and in a lot of cases Steve had experienced brief moments of confusion even at the time, given the hints of sadness often displayed by Danny in the last few seconds before their lips met. Of course, the instance where Danny had told Steve about the curse but then decided to make him forget about it is the least pleasant memory.

Steve tries to focus on some of the more enjoyable experiences which of course includes the actual first kiss, where neither of them had any reason to feel anything other than excitement and joy in the moments leading up to and during the event, except perhaps a fleeting sense of guilt at the thought of their lack of consideration for Lynn and Melissa.

A few of the kisses initiated by Danny were a bit brief and perfunctory, but generally he appears to have decided to make the most of each kiss while it lasted. The majority were sweet and tender, frequently being preceded by a declaration of love, but occasionally Steve had gone in all guns blazing and once in a while Danny had thrown caution to the wind and gone for desperate and heated, clearly attempting to prolong the contact as long as possible. Their chemistry is like molten lava and Steve is eagerly anticipating following through on it, despite the fact that he has very limited experience with men. He loves and trusts Danny so much that he’s not worried about it.

As he and Jim get closer to civilization, Steve’s phone acquires a signal and immediately starts to ring. He idly wonders just how long Danny has been trying to call. Not wanting to delay sharing the wonderful news, he picks up the call and blurts out, “Danny, it’s gone. The curse is broken.”

“Oh, thank god.” Danny has never sounded more relieved. “I thought I might be imagining things, but I feel different.”

“Yeah, me too.” Steve lets out a brief, happy laugh. “And not just because of the curse being lifted. Anna also helped me deal with everything I’ve been through _and_ removed the radiation poisoning.”

“Seriously? That… sounds too good to be true.”

“Tell me about it. But I promise you, it’s real.”

“Wow.” Danny pauses for a long moment. “Then I guess I can’t complain anymore about you taking on a task that should have been mine. Finally getting the chance to be with you would have been more than enough, but knowing you’re not going to get sick… I never thought I’d be so happy.”

Hearing Danny sound choked up has Steve wrestling with his own emotions. “Me too,” he says shakily. Time for a slight change of subject. “There’s one more thing you should know; I now remember everything the curse made me forget.”

“Oh.” Danny’s tone is a bit concerned now. “How do you feel about that?”

This conversation is in dire need of some levity, and Jim is a safe enough distance ahead for Steve to say, “Mostly, I’m annoyed that I was temporarily unaware that I’ve had the pleasure of getting my hands on your perfect ass.”

Danny laughs a little hysterically. “FYI, babe, Junior is here and you’re on speaker.”

How embarrassing. But Steve chuckles too. “ _Now_ you tell me.”

“Don’t mind me!” Junior shouts with obvious amusement. “But I’m very happy to hear you got the curse removed, and apparently a lot more besides.”

“Thanks buddy,” Steve replies.

There’s a rustling sound before Danny speaks again. “It’s just me now, in case you have anything else interesting to say. Where are you right now?”

“Hopefully just a mile or so away from a real bed for the night. It’ll take a couple of hours to get to the airport in the morning.”

“Great. After seven weeks of traipsing around a rainforest I imagine you’re in serious need of a shower and a shave before you try to get on an aircraft.”

That’s probably true enough; Steve no doubt smells terrible and in addition to a lot of dirt everywhere, there’s a hand-shaped patch of dried blood on his chest. Still, just for fun, Steve feigns offense as he asks, “You don’t like me with a beard?”

Danny sighs. “I don’t like that I’ve only ever seen you with one after we’ve been separated for far too long. You want to experiment with facial hair while I’m by your side watching it happen, you go right ahead. You’ll still be ridiculously attractive either way.”

Well, that went in an unexpectedly sobering direction. Steve is momentarily at a loss for words.

Fortunately Danny can almost always be relied upon to fill a silence. “If you’re done fishing for compliments, I have a question for you… how do you feel about getting started on that vacation right away? There’s a direct flight from Honolulu to Sydney that would get me there mid afternoon tomorrow. Well, tomorrow for you. I’d lose a day somewhere along the way. Junior is just waiting for approval to book me a ticket.”

“Hell yes,” Steve replies immediately. “Book it. I’ll probably get there just a couple of hours before you do.”

“Okay,” Danny says, clearly pleased with this outcome. “Now that that’s decided, I should go. It’s getting late here and it’s an early flight. I also need to pack and notify everyone who needs to know. I love you Steve and I can’t wait to see you.”

“I love you too. See you soon.”

After ending the call, Steve hurries to catch up with Jim and they soon emerge into an area with several lodges and motels. Jim is heading off to meet back up with his family, so Steve thanks him profusely and they part with a warm hug. Thankfully it doesn’t take much time after that to find a place to stay. Steve takes a much longer shower than he normally would but decides to leave his face alone until the morning, when he will hopefully be a lot less exhausted. He goes to bed not very long after grabbing dinner, with the intention of being well rested enough to thoroughly enjoy his reunion with Danny.

A large portion of the following day passes by in a blur of restless anticipation but Steve mechanically does everything he needs to do until he finds himself in Sydney Airport, clean shaven as requested and awaiting his soulmate’s arrival.

After what feels like a much longer wait than it actually is, Steve finally spots Danny among the crowd. He looks amazing, healthy and relaxed, and the way his face lights up when he sees Steve is extremely gratifying. As he gets closer, Steve realizes that Danny is wearing one of Steve’s Navy t-shirts and wow, he likes that a hell of a lot. Judging by the wicked gleam in his eye, Danny was fully expecting that he would.

As soon as they’re close enough, they reach out for each other, immediately indulging in a gentle, loving kiss. Regrettably, Danny breaks it off relatively quickly, although Steve is sympathetic to his desire to confirm that this one isn’t going to get erased. Danny has retreated just far enough that they can gaze into each other’s eyes. Steve smiles softly as he sees the moment Danny accepts that the curse is truly gone and his eyes begin to shine with tears of joy. Steve is feeling exactly the same as he draws Danny back in for their first ever follow-up kiss.

It’s possible they get carried away and allow this kiss to get a bit more passionate than is strictly appropriate for the setting. Eventually they’re interrupted by a loud wolf whistle and several people yelling at them to get a room. Steve reluctantly stops and presses their foreheads together. Danny starts to laugh delightedly and Steve joins in for a while.

After a minute or so he moves back far enough so they can comfortably look at each other again. “We do have a room, if you’re interested,” he says, aiming for casual but missing by a mile and betraying his eagerness instead.

Danny smirks. “I don’t know,” he replies with exaggerated thoughtfulness. “Technically, we’ve never even been on a date. Are you sure you don’t want to wait?”

Steve is aware that Danny is just messing with him but he allows his frustration to show anyway. “Are you kidding me? It’s been almost four years since our first kiss, and we were in love long before that, so I think we’ve waited more than enough. Besides, we’ve been on dozens of dates, even if we didn’t call them that at the time.”

“Very persuasive babe, well done,” Danny says with a blinding grin. He moves away but takes Steve’s hand before he gets the chance to mourn the loss of contact. “Lead the way.”

Steve grins right back and hurries to get them out of the airport. He’s never been happier and it feels like he finally found that peace he claimed to be looking for. There are still some big decisions to be made about the future but now that he has Danny by his side they don’t feel particularly pressing. They have plenty of time and they can figure it all out together.

* * * * *

Three days after dropping Danny off at the airport, Junior receives a photo of Steve and Danny sharing a kiss in front of the Sydney Opera House. It’s quickly followed by a second photo, timestamped about a minute later, where they’ve separated just enough to gaze at each other adoringly. They’re obviously blissfully happy and madly in love.

There’s no way Junior is keeping this exciting news to himself, but he doesn’t want to embarrass Danny and Steve too much, so he forwards just the second photograph to all of their mutual friends. Jerry might be the only other member of the group who knows the happy couple are soulmates, but Junior is pretty sure everyone will be thrilled to see them finally get together.

Junior grins contentedly, grateful that Steve took the time to send him this evidence confirming that the curse is definitely broken. It’s always satisfying to know that a mission has been successfully accomplished and he’s glad he got the opportunity to play a small part in helping his friends achieve their happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.
> 
> Thanks for reading and an extra thank you for all of the comments and kudos. I'm particularly grateful for the encouragement I received after posting the first chapter. I thought this story might be a bit too weird and almost didn't post it at all so I'm happy to know that others have enjoyed it :)


End file.
